Healthy Competition: How the EU can prepare for the demographic transition

In a world dominated by insecurity and anxieties around artificial intelligence, defence and security as well as the climate emergency, the demographic transition is another looming crisis for the EU. The European Commission’s recent Competitiveness Compass rightly posits that the foundation of Europe’s competitiveness is its people and Europe’s labour market is undergoing a profound transformation. Yet in the path for Europe the European Commission describes, the focus is mainly on “promoting skills and quality jobs”, ultimately resulting in a Union of Skills to be presented later in the von der Leyen II mandate.

In its analysis, the Commission overlooks the demographic transition as an important horizontal transformation impacting (the health of) its workforce. This applies particularly to the healthcare sector. The costs of non-intervention are high: failure to address the demographic transition leads to workforce shortages and deterioration of healthcare delivery. This jeopardises the functioning of healthcare systems and ultimately our democracies; if citizens believe welfare systems are not delivering for them anymore, it impacts their trust in democracy and fuels the narratives of populist parties.

At a recent Policy Dialogue on Healthy Longevity organised by the European Policy Centre’s Coalition for Health Ethics and Society and the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) for Global Change, the urgent need for strategic action on demographic changes in the EU was emphasised with healthy longevity identified as a key lever. Building on this discussion, this paper will explore actionable strategies to address these demographic shifts, emphasising the promotion of healthy longevity as a critical component of EU policy.